Bovine Methane Emissions Solution Spearheaded By US Firm

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Despite the attempted coup* against the US government unfolding in real time, the business of clean tech continues to be big business. Take the Nevada-based startup CH4 Global, for example. As the company’s name indicates, CH4 — the chemical symbol for methane — has been pursuing a seaweed-based solution for reducing methane emissions from livestock, and it is launching its first scale-up at a facility Australia.

Reducing Methane Emissions, Four Hooves At A Time

Jokes about animals belching and farting aside, methane emissions from livestock make up a significant contribution to global warming. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and the numbers add up. In the cattle industry alone, the US EPA has cited a calculation that one cow can emit  cow 154-264 pounds of methane gas every year. Farmers around the world raise 1.5 billion cattle every year, collectively pumping about 231 billion pounds of methane into the atmosphere, every year.

The vast bulk of those emissions come from belches, not flatulence. Researchers have been assembling evidence indicating that adding the red seaweed Asparagopsis to livestock feed can cut those methane emissions down to the bone. The seaweed produces bromoform when introduced to a cow’s digestive system, which stalls the enzyme that microbes use to produce methane.

CH4 Global, for one, has seen enough. On January 30 the company announced the beginning of Phase I for its full scale EcoPark seaweed cultivation and processing complex, located in Louth Bay about 23 kilometers north of Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.

In Phase I, CH4 Global has already begun to grow Asparagopsis in 10 cultivation ponds capable of producing 80 metric tonnes of the seaweed each year, to produce its “Methane Tamer” feedlot product.

CH4 claims that Methane Tamer can reduce methane emissions from cattle by up to 90%, while beating other emissions-reducing additives on cost. The company attributes much of the savings to a proprietary system that favors ponds over conventional aquaculture tanks.

CH4 plans to step up to 100 ponds over the coming months, a capacity that will provide enough to cover 45,000 cattle daily. “With additional investment, the facility could eventually expand to 500 ponds capable of serving hundreds of thousands of cattle per day,” CH4 adds. The company notes that its 2030 goal will cover 150 million cattle per day, which it calculates is about 10% of the global cattle population.

Chipotle Has A Plan For Methane Emissions

Another leading US firm is playing an instrumental role in the new EcoPark facility. That would be Chipotle, the popular food purveyor headquartered in California. On January 15 Chipotle announced two new investments taking on the methane emissions problem.

One investment is a thumbs-up for the plant-based protein startup Plantible Foods. The company, which is also headquartered in California, is deploying the common aquatic plant Lemna (aka duckweed) to manufacture a product it calls Rubi Protein. “Rubi Protein™ is a natural, plant-based protein that can mimic the quality, taste, and texture of popular animal-based proteins and can replace synthetic emulsifiers and binders,” Chipotle explains.

CH4 Global’s Methane Tamer is the other side of the coin. “Chipotle’s investment will help CH4 Global scale production of Methane Tamer to meet burgeoning global demand for natural solutions to mitigate methane emissions from the world’s 1.5 billion cattle,” the company explains.

“Asparagopsis may reduce the feed energy lost to methane production inside the rumen area of their stomachs,” Chipotle adds. “This means that cattle could get more energy and nutrition from the same amount of food, which would help them grow or produce milk more efficiently while reducing their environmental impact.”

That’s the tip of the carbon-reducing iceberg for Chipotle. Through its Cultivate Next investment portfolio the company lists funding for Brassica, GreenField Robotics, Hyphen, Local Line, Lumachain, Meati Foods, Nitricity, Vebu, and Zero Acre Farms, in addition to Plantible and CH4 Global (if you have climate solution that fits the Cultivate Next portfolio, email the firm at CultivateNext@Chipotle.com).

Bringing The Methane Emissions Solution Home To US Farmers

Here in the US, researchers have been assessing effects of red seaweed on livestock before it goes into wide use. Assuming such work is allowed to continue while Trump lays an axe to the nation’s research infrastructure, the Animal Sciences branch of Cornell University in New York State is among those studying the seaweed.

Last summer, Animal Sciences postdoctoral researcher Diana Reyes Gomez described the school’s preparations for an assessment of red seaweed, taking note of the benefits for farmers over.

“Cutting these emissions can potentially improve feed efficiency, lower costs and boost productivity,” Gomez explained. “Also, when they adopt practices that reduce methane, farmers can comply with the increasing regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time benefit from potential incentives.”

“When they embrace sustainable practices, they can both lessen environmental impact and open new doors to market opportunities by catering to the growing consumer demand for sustainably produced food,” Gomez added.

That comment about sustainably produced food is an important take from a global commerce perspective. After all, Trump can drag the US back to the dark ages in terms of energy and environmental policy, but stakeholders in food systems elsewhere around the world have maintained a keen interest in saving the planet from catastrophic global warming.

The initial phases of the Cornell study will be completed this month and the investigation will conclude with a 12-week evaluation beginning in May.

90% Is Just The Beginning

CH4’s estimate of a 90% reduction in methane emissions may be an underestimate. Cornell Animal Sciences cites 97% as the topline cut, which can be achieved when Asparagopsis makes up just 1% of a cow’s diet.

That remains to be seen. Another question to consider is how the feed additive will affect cow manure. Aside from use as a fertilizer, the US Department of Agriculture has been encouraging livestock farmers to produce their own methane from manure.

The Cornell results will be presented at the annual Cornell Nutrition Conference this fall, if such a thing is allowed to continue while Trump steamrolls over both Congress and the judiciary, too. On his watch, the conference and many others like it are destined to become shells of their former selves if they happen at all.

That’s quite a loss for the nation’s standing in the world. “The CNC, first held in 1938, has grown into a premier international conference dedicated to advancing the field of animal nutrition,” Cornell says of the event. “Attracting a diverse audience of feed manufacturers, nutritionists, consultants, researchers, and university faculty, the event showcases recent research and insights, primarily focused on dairy nutrition.”

So much for making America great again…

*It’s an attempted coup, but “attempted” is still the operative word. Public opinion still matters. Take a few minutes to contact your representatives in Congress.

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Image (cropped): Trump or no Trump, innovators in the US are developing solutions to cut methane emissions from cattle, a significant source of greenhouse gasses (courtesy of CH4 Global).